Bereavement and mourning after a shipping disaster: The case for intervention

This paper describes the help given by the social services department of a shipping company to bereaved families following a shipping disaster. In the absence of clear, factual and prompt information from an authoritative source, there is a tendency for bereaved individuals to deny their loss and thereby delay the process of mourning and eventual recovery. Appropriate intervention and support can help to overcome this tendency as was seen in the Madasa case.     

安全系统设计思路

本文从安全需求开始,系统完整地介绍了安全系统的设计思路,值得设计院、安防工程企业,特别是终端用户在规划和设计安全防范系统时加以借鉴。 设计前的必要准备——安全总揽 在考虑安装安全系统之前,建议用户先作一个安全总揽,这样才能更好地分析自己的需求,真正收到知己知彼的效果。安全总揽中考虑的因素主要包括防止犯罪、风险控制管理、物理安全对策、电子安全对策以及系统维护问题等。 防止犯罪     

如何对幼儿进行环境教育

应该从什么时候开始对儿童进行环境教育——三年级?一年级?还是幼儿园?答案是:更早。实际上,在人生命的最初几年,环境教育就应该以体验的方式进行。这些体验对于塑造孩子将来对自然的态度、价值观念和行为模式扮演着重要的角色。由于儿童是通过在自然中玩耍去了解环境的,教育者     

The shadow price of substitutable sulfur in the US electric power plant: a distance function approach

Given restrictions on sulfur dioxide emissions, a feasible long-run response could involve either an investment in improving boiler fuel-efficiency or a shift to a production process that is effective in removing sulfur dioxide. To allow for the possibility of substitution between sulfur and productive capital, we measure the shadow price of sulfur dioxide as the opportunity cost of lowering sulfur emissions in terms of forgone capital. The input distance function is estimated with data from 51 coal-fired US power units operating between 1977 and 1986. The indirect Morishima elasticities of substitution indicate that the substitutability of capital for sulfur is relatively high. The overall weighted average estimate of the shadow price of sulfur is -0.076 dollars per pound in constant 1976 dollars.     

Evaluation of simplifying assumptions on pesticide degradation in soil

There is evidence that degradation of pesticides in simple laboratory systems may differ from that in the field, but it is not clear which of the simplifications inherent in laboratory studies present serious shortcomings. Laboratory experiments evaluated several simplifying assumptions for a clay loam soil and contrasting pesticides. Degradation of cyanazine [2-(4-chloro-6-ethylamino-1,3,5-triazin-2-ylamino)-2-methylpropiononitrile] and bentazone [3-isopropyl-1H-2,1,3-benzothiadiazin-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxide] at fluctuating temperature and moisture was predicted reasonably well based on parameters derived from degradation under constant conditions. There was a tendency for slower degradation of cyanazine and bentazone in soil aggregates of 3 to 5 mm in diameter (DT50 at 15 degrees C and 40% maximum water holding capacity of 25.1 and 58.2 d, where DT50 is the time for 50% decline of the initial pesticide concentration) than in soil sieved to <3 mm (DT50 of 19.1 and 37.6 d), but the differences were not significant for most datasets. Degradation of cyanazine, isoproturon [3-(4-isopropylphenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea], and chlorotoluron [3-(3-chloro-p-tolyl)-1,1-dimethylurea] was measured in soil amended with different amounts of lignin. The effect of lignin on degradation was small despite considerable differences in sorption. The DT50 values of cyanazine, isoproturon, and chlorotoluron were 16.2, 18.6, and 33.0 d, respectively, in soil without lignin and 19.0, 23.4, and 34.6 d, respectively, in soil amended with 2% lignin. Degradation of bentazone and cyanazine in repacked soil columns was similar under static and flow conditions with 50.1 and 47.2% of applied bentazone and 74.7 and 73.6% of applied cyanazine, respectively, degraded within 20 d of application. Thus, the assumptions underpinning laboratory to field extrapolation tested here were considered to hold for our experimental system. Additional work is required before general conclusions can be drawn.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils of the Moscow Region--concentrations, temporal trends, and small-scale distribution

The knowledge of the environmental fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is restricted to few climatic regions of the world almost excluding the Taiga. Our objectives were to (i) separate anthropogenic from background contributions to PAH concentrations and (ii) determine temporal trends in PAH concentrations during the last century including the change in distribution of PAHs in interior and exterior portions of aggregates in soils of the Moscow region. Along a southeast-bound transect from Moscow (windward in winter) and at a background location northeast of Moscow (leeward in winter), seven topsoil samples were collected in 1910-1954 and 35 in 1998-2003. We fractionated the soils in interior and exterior portions of aggregates > 10 mm and remaining soil without aggregates. The sum of 21 PAHs (sigma21PAHs) concentrations in recent bulk soil ranged from 59 to 1350 ng g(-1). The concentrations of all PAHs were lower outside than in Moscow. The range of the concentrations of the sigma21PAHs in archived soil samples (159-1280 ng g(-1)) was similar as in recent soils. In most recent and archived samples, naphthalene and phenanthrene, were most abundant. The concentrations of low-molecular-weight PAHs decreased during the last century at most sites; those of high-molecular-weight compounds increased. The sigma21PAHs concentrations were accumulated in the exterior of aggregates (109%) and depleted in the interior (95%) relative to the concentration in bulk soil (defined as 100%), which was similar to that in the soil without aggregates (99%). The differences between aggregate interior and exterior did not change during the last century. The dominance of naphthalene and phenanthrene is typical of remote regions. The urban influence on PAH concentrations in the last century was small.     

Quantification of intrinsic water use efficiency along a moisture gradient in Northeastern China

Water use efficiency (WUE) is an important ecophysiological characteristic of plants, especially in semiarid and arid regions. At the scale of community or ecosystem, WUE is difficult to quantify because the amount of water used per unit dry mass production is a function of microclimatic variables and species composition. In this study, we analyzed corrected intrinsic water use efficiency (IWUE(s)) of grass and shrub species along the western segment of the Northeast China Transect (NECT) and the relationship between IWUE(s) and mean annual rainfall, habitat degradation status, vegetation type, and plant functional type (C3 versus C4) at 22 survey sites. Site intrinsic water use efficiency (IWUE(v)) and its relationship with the aforementioned site variables were analyzed based on species frequencies at each site. First, it was concluded that photosynthetic pathway played a very important role in determining species IWUE(s). Mean IWUE(s) for C4 species was approximately double that of C3 species. Second, mean annual rainfall, vegetation type, and site degradation status significantly affected IWUE(s) (p < 0.01). Mean IWUE(s) at degraded sites was twice as high as that at nondegraded sites. The mean IWUE(s) for meadows was significantly higher than those for other vegetation types (p < 0.05). Third, the frequency of occurrence of C4 plants explained 36% of the variance in IWUE(v) across the survey sites. The mean frequency of C4 occurrence at degraded sites was more than double that at nondegraded sites. Consequently, mean IWUE(v) at degraded sites was more than double that at nondegraded sites. Dominant C4 species in saline-alkaline areas tended to have higher intrinsic WUE than dominant C4 species in sandy shrub communities.     

Science in the public process of ecosystem management: lessons from Hawaii, Southeast Asia, Africa and the US Mainland

Partnerships and co-operative environmental management are increasing worldwide as is the call for scientific input in the public process of ecosystem management. In Hawaii, private landowners, non-governmental organizations, and state and federal agencies have formed watershed partnerships to conserve and better manage upland forested watersheds. In this paper, findings of an international workshop convened in Hawaii to explore the strengths of approaches used to assess stakeholder values of environmental resources and foster consensus in the public process of ecosystem management are presented. Authors draw upon field experience in projects throughout Hawaii, Southeast Asia, Africa and the US mainland to derive a set of lessons learned that can be applied to Hawaiian and other watershed partnerships in an effort to promote consensus and sustainable ecosystem management. Interdisciplinary science-based models can serve as effective tools to identify areas of potential consensus in the process of ecosystem management. Effective integration of scientific input in co-operative ecosystem management depends on the role of science, the stakeholders and decision-makers involved, and the common language utilized to compare tradeoffs. Trust is essential to consensus building and the integration of scientific input must be transparent and inclusive of public feedback. Consideration of all relevant stakeholders and the actual benefits and costs of management activities to each stakeholder is essential. Perceptions and intuitive responses of people can be as influential as analytical processes in decision-making and must be addressed. Deliberative, dynamic and iterative decision-making processes all influence the level of stakeholder achievement of consensus. In Hawaii, application of lessons learned can promote more informed and democratic decision processes, quality scientific analysis that is relevant, and legitimacy and public acceptance of ecosystem management.     

How to reconcile environmental and economic performance to improve corporate sustainability: corporate environmental strategies in the European paper industry

This paper discusses the relationship between environmental and economic performance and the influence of corporate strategies with regard to sustainability and the environment. After formulating a theoretical model, results are reported from an empirical analysis of the European paper manufacturing industry. New data are used to test hypotheses derived from the theoretical model, using environmental performance indices representing different corporate environmental strategy orientations. In particular, an emissions-based index largely reflecting end-of-pipe strategies and an inputs-based index reflecting integrated pollution prevention are distinguished. For the emissions-based index, a predominantly negative relationship between environmental and economic performance is found, whereas for the inputs-based index no significant link is found. This is consistent with the theoretical model, which predicts the possibility of different relationships. The results also show that for firms with pollution prevention-oriented corporate environmental strategies, the relationship between environmental and economic performance is more positive, thus making improvements in corporate sustainability more likely. Based on this last insight, managerial implications of this are discussed with regard to strategy choices, investment decisions and operations management.